Kansas City Royals defeat Indians on Four Sacrifice Flies
By John Viril
The Kansas City Royals scored all of their runs on 4 sacrifice flies in their 4-1 win over Cleveland at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
No team in baseball history had scored all of their runs on 4 sacrifice flies until the Royals pulled off the feat on Wednesday. The record goes back to 1954, which was when the sacrifice fly became an official statistic. Hey, I guess whatever can get the Royals to the 4-run mark is a good thing.
Meanwhile, Kansas City Royals starter Yordano Ventura held the Indians to 1 run over 7 innings. He earned his 4th victory of the season (4-5).
The win pushed KC above the .500 mark for the first time since May 14 when they were 20-19. Right now, the Royals stand 33-32 and have closed to only 2 games behind slumping Detroit in the A.L. Central. Kansas City also won sole possession of 2nd place.
On the Mound
Yordano Ventura made his second strong start since leaving a game against the Astros in the 3rd inning with elbow pain. Ventura pitched 7.0 innings, giving up 6 hits, 0 walks, and 1 earned run with 3 strkeouts. Ventura lowered his ERA to 3.20.
Wade Davis pitched the 8th and allowed the Indians to load the bases on 1 walk and 2 singles with no outs. Davis then struck out Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana before getting David Murphy on a grounder to 2nd base.
Greg Holland finished off the 9th with a clean inning for his 19th save.
At the Plate
Alcides Escobar was a perfect 3-3, hitting 3 singles, with 1 run scored, and 1 RBI on the day. In the 8th inning, Escobar also added his 17th stolen base of the season—against only 1 caught stealing.
Mike Moustakas chipped in with a 2-hit performance in 4 ABs, with 1 double, a single, and 1 run scored.
Overall, the Kansas City Royals attack accumulated 11 hits, 3 doubles, and 1 walk to score 4 runs on sacrifice flies.
This and That
Alcides Escobar made an aggressive play to score on Omar Infante‘s popup to SS Mike Aviles just behind the infield dirt in left field. Escobar saw Aviles struggling with the sun and tagged on the play. He dashed for home when Aviles fell to the ground as he made the catch, forcing the Indians SS to throw while sitting on the outfield grass. Pitcher Trevor Bauer‘s relay was high, allowing Escobar to score.
Alex Gordon made a fine sliding catch on Michael Bourn‘s liner to left-field.
Eric Hosmer speared a foul ball while leaning over the railing in foul territory to retire Jason Giambi for the 2nd out of the 9th.
The only sour note in an otherwise well-played game was Escobar’s throwing error on Lonnie Chisenhall‘s infield single in the 3rd.
KC Kingdom Player of the Game
Our nod goes to Alcides Escobar for his 3-hit performance, and his terrific awareness to score in the 3rd inning when most players would have given up on the play.
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- Billy Butler – 2
- Lorenzo Cain – 3
- Johnny Giavotella
- Wade Davis
- Norichika Aoki
- Salvador Perez – 3
- Jeremy Guthrie – 5
- Jason Vargas – 5
- Alex Gordon – 8
- Bruce Chen
- James Shields – 6
- Yordano Ventura – 3
- Mike Moustakas
- Danny Duffy – 4
- Omar Infante – 2
- Mike Moustakas – 3
- Alcides Escobar – 4
- Eric Hosmer – 7
- Michael Mariot
- Casey Coleman
The Indians
Lonnie Chisenhall continued his hot hitting, going 2-3 with 2 singles and a walk. Chisenhall is hitting a ludicrous .393/.438/.619 for a 1.057 OPS.
The Royals were not the only team to help their pitchers with strong defense. Michael Bourn made a sliding catch on Alex Gordon’s dying fly ball to center with Billy Butler on second and two outs. Lonnie Chisenhall opened the Royals 6th with a sliding stop of Salvador Perez‘s hard hit grounder to 3rd for the 1st out of the inning.
Up Next
The Royals head for Chicago to open a 3-game series against the White Sox. Kansas City will send Jeremy Guthrie (2-6, 4.10 ERA) to the mound against Jose Quintana (3-6, 3.59 ERA) for Chicago. Game time is 7:10 CST at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago.
Box
| indians Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Bourn CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .284 | .329 | .393 | .722 |
| Lonnie Chisenhall 3B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .393 | .438 | .619 | 1.057 |
| Michael Brantley LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .310 | .379 | .500 | .879 |
| Jason Kipnis 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .250 | .347 | .361 | .708 |
| Carlos Santana 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .178 | .339 | .320 | .659 |
| David Murphy RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .284 | .342 | .436 | .778 |
| Yan Gomes C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .261 | .312 | .417 | .729 |
| Jason Giambi DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .128 | .212 | .277 | .488 |
| Mike Aviles SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .261 | .283 | .358 | .641 |
| Team Totals | 35 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 36 | .229 | .250 | .229 | .479 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.
TB: M Bourn 2; L Chisenhall 2; M Brantley 2; J Kipnis; C Santana.
RBI: C Santana (22).
2-out RBI: C Santana.
Team LOB: 8.
With RISP: 2 for 10.
Fielding
E: T Bauer (1).
| Royals Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nori Aoki RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .256 | .317 |
| Omar Infante 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .232 | .279 |
| Eric Hosmer 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .259 | .300 |
| Billy Butler DH | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .254 | .302 |
| Alex Gordon LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .283 | .369 |
| Salvador Perez C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .270 | .320 |
| Mike Moustakas 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .164 | .229 |
| Alcides Escobar SS | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .287 | .328 |
| Jarrod Dyson CF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .286 | .349 |
| Team Totals | 31 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 36 | .355 | .333 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.
2B: M Moustakas (10, off T Bauer); S Perez (15, off T Bauer); B Butler (13, off T Bauer).
SF: J Dyson (1, off T Bauer); O Infante (3, off T Bauer); A Escobar (2, off T Bauer); B Butler (7, off J Axford).
TB: M Moustakas 3; A Escobar 3; S Perez 2; B Butler 2; E Hosmer; N Aoki; O Infante; J Dyson.
RBI: J Dyson (5); A Escobar (22); O Infante (25); B Butler (24).
Team LOB: 8.
With RISP: 3 for 8.
Fielding
E: A Escobar (4).
Baserunning
SB: E Hosmer (1, 2nd base off J Axford/Y Gomes); A Escobar (17, 2nd base off J Outman/Y Gomes).
| Indians Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trevor Bauer, L (1-3) | 5.1 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.24 | 93 | 62 |
| Marc Rzepczynski | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.18 | 9 | 5 |
| John Axford | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.33 | 28 | 17 |
| Josh Outman | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.86 | 23 | 17 |
| Team Totals | 8 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4.50 | 153 | 101 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.
| Royals Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yordano Ventura, W (4-5) | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.20 | 85 | 61 |
| Wade Davis, H (11) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1.23 | 29 | 18 |
| Greg Holland, S (19) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.40 | 11 | 9 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1.00 | 125 | 88 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.
Balks: None.
WP: None.
HBP: None.
IBB: None.
Pickoffs: None.